Sermon by the Revd David Thompson for The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 6, 2026

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Amen.

Well, I have to say to begin with, from my perspective, that I'm looking out upon a very well-attended Sunday immediately preceding Labor Day.

And I did not anticipate such robust attendance on this holiday weekend.

And I hope those listening later know that there may be some extra bumps and sounds in the background from you all.

It's very good to see.

I was somewhat expecting I may have to pull my chair down and sit and hold a Bible study.

But for all sorts of reasons, we'll say no more.

I want to share something with you that a colleague of mine shared with me from another context that someone had shared with him somewhat recently.

And I trust it's not AI, though you can't tell for sure these days.

But I believe it's not.

I believe this has the human element of perception in it.

And if you will, this you could hear this as perhaps a diagnostic tool to help gauge, maybe, or think about the mission and the health of the church, and not only on a global universal scale, but even more personally on a local level, any local church that is.

It reads as follows.

One of the dangerous side effects of consumer Christianity is that people begin evaluating churches the same way they evaluate restaurants, gyms, streaming platforms, or brands.

That is, did I enjoy it?

Did it meet my needs?

Did it inspire me enough?

Or did my family like the experience?

The problem is the New Testament asks completely different questions of the church, such as: Are people being formed into holiness in this place?

Are believers in Christ carrying one another's burdens?

Is the gospel being proclaimed faithfully in word and sacrament?

Are disciples of Christ being made here?

And if so, are they growing and maturing in Christ?

Lastly, is or does this church reflect the character of Christ?

Is Christ recognizable within this people?

Consumerism trains people to think that church exists primarily for them.

But the kingdom of God teaches people, us, that we exist for God, for Christ, and for God's glory.

If I were to add another question which connects up with our gospel reading, which would be along the same lines of helping us think about the church and our local church, it might be this.

Is this a place where the fruit of forgiveness and reconciliation is found within relationships within this people?

And of course, that is inspired from our gospel reading where Jesus takes up that very issue.

This is perhaps one of the most practical teachings that Jesus ever offered.

We're not talking about the nature of the Trinity here.

We're not talking about the hypostatic union of Christ.

Jesus is very much concerned, practically speaking, with relationship, particularly your relationship to your brother and sister in Christ.

And so he offers these words, if your brother sins against you, which implies this is bound to happen.

Now, let me begin by offering a word for all, and that is sin happens.

You know that.

We know that.

You just pick up the paper and you read that, you see it on TV every day.

It happens.

But sometimes we need to be reminded, it doesn't only happen in the world, around the world, or around us.

Sin happens to us, by us, in here too.

That's what Jesus is pressing at here.

He's teaching his disciples that sin will happen.

And on that note, this word that he begins with, if, which is a conditional, can just as well be translated as when, actually.

Some translations do put it that way.

When your brother sins against you.

Not if, but when.

And it might be helpful to just press in a little bit into the words sin.

What are we talking about?

And be clear about what we're talking about.

Sin is a very grave thing.

And I think there are two criteria here that we could employ in this context to be sure that we're on the same page with Jesus.

Jesus is not talking about behaviors and someone else that you find annoying or that great on your nerves, nor is he talking about lifestyles that don't meet certain social customs that you're comfortable with.

But rather, Jesus is addressing first sin in the sense of a violation against God's holy law.

And if you need a reminder on what that is, the Ten Commandments is a good place to start.

We didn't write them, we didn't come up with them.

God delivered them as well as others.

And that's what Jesus is saying, that we are talking about offenses that violate God's law as revealed to us in Holy Scripture, not laws that we come up with in and of our own authority or preference.

And secondly, Jesus is talking about sin that actually harms relationship, that damages your relationship with another person.

And I say that because it's very possible to be in sin and for that sin to remain interior to your life.

Sin doesn't begin with action or word, it actually begins with a seed planted deep within our own our hearts and rumination and meditation and thought life.

Even giving yourself over to that thought brings us into the territory of sin.

But what Jesus is concerned with here is sin that is birthed out of the heart, that does manifest in the form of word or deed that damages relationship.

And on that note, now Jesus directs his words most pointedly to the offended.

And here we have a word for those who find themselves on the offended side.

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

There are sins that get the state involved, that go outside the realm of the church.

But I think what Jesus is addressing here is the kind of sins that one commits against another that can be solved between the two together, without any kind of criminal layer of activity added upon that.

But it's worth just noting that there is sin that goes beyond and others get involved.

But within the church, when we're talking about slander or theft, other types of sins that may come between you and another person within the body of Christ that could be solved one-on-one, Jesus says to the offended party, go to that person yourself and speak with them.

Tell him or her their fault between the two of you alone.

And what Jesus is saying here is that the responsibility to seek reconciliation and forgiveness is actually on the offended party.

Makes me wonder why that is.

As I think about that, I can't say for sure, but I think the offender is blind in their blindness.

They having committed sin against someone, they are steeped in blindness, in confusion, and they don't have the ability and the capacity to initiate this process.

And so Jesus goes to the offended party and says, You who have been on the receiving end of this, you bear the responsibility.

Go and initiate this process of reconciliation with this person.

That's not an easy thing to do, but it's exactly what he says to do.

And it sometimes it can be helpful for us to put this in contrast.

Notice what Jesus does not say to do.

He doesn't say, if your brother or sister sins against you, go and gossip with your friends about it.

Go and seek out and forge alliances to turn on that person.

He doesn't say, make them the enemy, forget them, cast them off, and don't talk to them again.

He doesn't say harbor resentment within your heart.

He says, no, go to them, you alone first.

And as you as we've read, this does escalate.

If that brother or sister is not able to listen and hear, this can escalate.

Take two or three more, and eventually it could become a church disciplinary matter.

But we'll leave that there for now.

Let me offer a word for the offender.

Even though this teaching is directed most pointedly at the offended, indirectly, there's a word here for the offender, if they can but hear, and it is summed up in one word.

Jesus uses it four times.

The best thing you can do if you find yourself in the position of being the offender of such a sin is to listen.

It's the hardest thing to do in one way, but it's also the easiest thing to do in another way.

You're not to do anything.

You just listen.

Let words enter into your ears and let them go down into your heart, and let it bear fruit.

And this is not easy to do.

We all know this.

You've we've all been on the side of being the offender, and we've been approached by someone, maybe beginning with our parents.

And you know the first thing that comes to mind, and the first inclination is to defend, obfuscate, argue, not to admit.

Listening.

Listening is the best thing you can do.

And that's what Jesus encourages the offender to do is just try to listen.

Try to listen.

And on that note, that brings us now to an even deeper truth on offer here for us.

Because I'm of the mind that in these words, in this teaching, Jesus is not merely concerned about horizontal relationships here.

He's actually encouraging us to learn something about God.

That there's something on offer about God here for us to learn.

And that is this that in the case of our sin, and now we're not talking about sin from brother to brother or brother to sister or sister to brother.

In the case of sin, that is an offense to God Almighty.

Jesus is showing us how God handles this process with us.

What does he do?

When we're guilty of sin, he doesn't cast us off immediately.

He doesn't do strike one, you're out.

He follows this same pattern.

He comes to us in many and diverse ways through his words, through the community of the church, through the sacraments.

He comes to us and he confronts us and he says, Son, daughter, you've sinned against me.

And I want to begin and initiate this process of forgiveness.

I want to make forgiveness possible, but I want you to acknowledge that you need that.

And when or if we fail to listen to God, he comes again.

And he comes again, and he keeps coming, and he keeps knocking on the doors of our hearts in hopes that we open and listen and respond and reciprocate so that reconciliation takes root in our own lives.

And so, all of that to say, what Jesus is instructing us to do is really just a pale reflection of what He Himself is doing for us, going so far as to come down into the world, to look us eye to eye, flesh to flesh, bone to bone, and to say to us, repent and believe, and trust and be forgiven, and to go so far as to shed blood to make this possible.

And if we have any hope ourselves to live this out, what we're really just doing is passing on to others what God has done for us.

And in doing that, all of this is bound with a promise that when you give yourself over to this pathway of reconciliation, Jesus says, In those well-known words, I will be with you.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, seeking reconciliation, there I will be in the midst of them.

I will be present and at work and blessing them.

Amen.